BACKSTORY

Everything you knew is gone, and with it any shred of safety and security.  You used to worry about having enough money to pay your bills, now you worry if you have enough food for your children to survive!  Everyone is out for themselves, the night is full of terror as gunshots echo in the streets, and the Colony, your last beacon of hope, has turned you away.   You slam your fist on a worn wooden table, one of the few shreds of furniture in your shack of a home.  Someone HAS to do something!  As if on cue, a scream shatters the silence of the cool evening air.  You grip your trusty shotgun and head outside to find three local hooligans threatening harm to your neighbor’s teenage daughter.  The neighbor’s house is on fire, no doubt their handy work, and her father and older brother beg the assailants to let her go.  Before you can react, one of them laughs maniacally, puts a pistol to the young girl’s head, and pulls the trigger.  You yell out in horror and fire a shot catching the shooter in the temple.  He quickly falls to his knees and collapses in a pool of his own blood.  The other two turn and run and you manage to fire off another shot that grazes one boy's ear.  The father runs to his daughter’s lifeless body and weeps.   Thanks to the virus, he had buried his wife only a few months ago, now his daughter and his only home all but burnt to the ground.  You offer your condolences and insist that they stay in your home...it was the least you could do.  If only you had been there sooner!   Things MUST change.  If no one else will stand up for what is right than you will, even if it means your life!

 

 

Additional Starting Family:  Adult (Father) and young adult (brother) from the story above.  They are the beginning of your campaign to save your town.

 

 

ABOUT YOU

Your family has one “head”.  This is your main character.  While you can control the other members of your family to ensure they are doing their jobs (i.e. gardening, etc.) you cannot stop them from making bad decisions (i.e. petting a stray dog, sleeping with the neighbor’s wife, etc.).  The protagonist; however, is completely controlled by you.  If your protagonist dies, the heir takes over as your main character.  If there is not a viable (young adult/adult) heir, the challenge is lost.

Being a savior means you cannot take “evil” traits.  

 

As the Savior, you have a trait that only YOU may possess (if anyone else gains it, take it away).  This trait may be passed on to your heir upon your death.

 

Brave:  Only the savior can have the brave trait.  This is a huge boon since emergency services are not available (fire houses, police stations, and hospitals should be deleted from your town).  You will be able to put out fires and charge forth into the unknown without fear.  Your bravery gives you a +1 bonus to all event rolls (see the TABLES section).

 

NOTE:  The KLEPTOMANIAC trait is reserved ONLY for Crime Lords.  No one in your household may have this trait.

 

 

ABOUT YOUR GOALS

Before Day 60, you must have obtained the following:

 

1.  Obtaining Influence:  Your ultimate goal is to bring all 10 houses under your protection (or authority if the home has a bad element living there).  The more people who recognize you as the authority and protector of the town, the greater your influence in trade and the more likely you will be to get help when you need it. 

 

2.  Your second goal should be generally being a “good guy”.  You cannot turn away a request for help or slink away when someone is being robbed/mistreated.  You are the law, the town sheriff so to speak.

 

DAILY EVENTS:

As promised, I have pattered this after countdown.  You may not do things like trade or steal unless the daily event says you can.  If an object breaks on a particular day, you must either dumpster dive, trade on appropriate days, and pray for the resources you need or do without that day and try again the next. 

 

Unlike Countdown, there is no T-12 Threshold.  The number to beat is always 12 unless otherwise stated.  Days are in ascending order now so the first day is listed as “Day 1”.  By Day 60, you must have obtained your goals.

 

DO NOT READ BEYOND YOUR CURRENT DAY!  Doing so is considered CHEATING!  The fun of this challenge is taking things as they come, unexpectedly!

 

Day 1-3:  Welcome to your first days!  You’ve got two new members to your home (so take some time to create them and add them to your family).  Nothing will occur on the first three days to give you a chance to get yourself settled, a steady food source, do some dumpster diving, etc.  Enjoy this peaceful time!

 

Day 4:  Mother Nature is definitely not on your side.  There are high winds and a downpour of rain beating against your small home.  You were smart enough to set out your buckets and collect two full buckets of water; however, you now have a leak in your roof right over a bed.  You must either destroy a piece of wood furniture and use the wood to repair the roof immediately or you’ll have one less bed to sleep in until you get a new one.

 

Day 5:  House Day!  House #1

It’s time to procure your first house!  Start with the home nearest your own.

Invite the family that lives there over for a meal (on you).  That means you’ll have to save your electricity for your little “dinner party”.  Talk, share a meal, and become friends with at least one adult in the household.  As long as they are your friend, you will have their home under your influence.

 

Day 6:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab.

 

Day 7:  Things are going well so you decide to start following through with your plans for the town.

Send out at least two adults to patrol the town for a minimum of 4 hours and roll to see what happens on the event table.

 

Day 8:  One of your water buckets broke the last trip to the river.  You must either use wood from a piece of furniture to patch it or go without until you do.

 

Day 9:  House Day!  House #2

It’s time to try and bring another home under your influence!  Choose the next closest house.

One of the neighbor boys comes running to your house.  Out of breath, the lad explains that he overheard robbers saying they were coming to his house to take his sister.  The boy begs for your help and you agree.  Grab however many men you feel are needed and head to the new house.  Start sweeping the area with patrols.  Have your “under cover” sim invite two enemies to the lot (1 Soldier, 1 Lieutenant) and subdue them.  If you lose, wait 3 days to retry.  If you win, the house will be grateful and join your cause.

 

Day 11:  Late one evening you hear a loud knock at the door.  You are greeted by two of your neighbors holding a young woman whose hands are clearly bound.  “She tried to steal from my farm Sheriff” (a name the locals had started calling you thanks to your efforts in dealing with the criminal element).  “We didn’t know what to do with her so my boy and I figured you would know how to handle it.”  Roll 1-20 to see what happens:

Score:  15-20:  The girl falls on her knees and begs your forgiveness explaining that she was forced to do what she did by the local band of thugs.  You may either let her go, take her as a wife (or 2nd wife if you are a polygamist), or marry her off to one of your men.

Score:  10-14:  You instruct the others to release her from her bonds and she immediate turns and bolts into the night air.  You search for her for a while, but no luck. 

Score:  4-9:  When you release her bonds, she turns and bolts to freedom.  To make matters wowrse, she stole a sack of food the neighbor left by his horse!  You must replace them and lose 5 food items from your stores.

Score:  1-3:  As soon as you release the girl, she grabs a gun from one of her captors!  One of your soldiers attempts to stop her but she puts a bullet between his eyes and then runs off!  You lose one soldier.

 

Day 12:  Rain has been pretty scarce and the river has all but dried up.  You won’t be able to collect water today.

 

Day 13:  It’s time to call a town meeting to discuss security.  The local criminals are clearly banding together and gaining strength.  A war is brewing unless you can end this soon.  Have a party at your house and invite the adults from your loyal houses over.  You’ll be treating everyone to a free meal (which could be a hard pill to swallow if you are struggling) but you will be rewarded!   You may choose ONE of the following:

• Add one adult from the town to your household; OR

• One of the neighbors, a talented gardener, offers you an OMNI PLANT that produces fresh chickens for you.  (Use the appropriate cheats to get your plant and obtain a chicken to feed it to get the process started).

 

Day 15:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab..

 

Day 16:  House Day!  House #3

One of your neighbors has been victimized.  The local band of thugs broke into their home, took their belongings, and “deflowered” his daughter who is now pregnant with a bastard child.  The father demands retribution and seeks you, the town sheriff, for justice.  You must send out a team to look for the boy (choose a random teen or adult from the enemy list and have your undercover person call them and two others to a community lot).  The boy is considered a Soldier and the two others backing him up are a Solider and Lieutenant.  A fight breaks out and your men must subdue them.  If successful, add the boy to your family and lock him up at the sheriff’s office.  There, decide his fate (you can force him to marry the girl, kill him, sentence him to imprisonment, whatever works for you).  If you fail, try again in 3 days.  Success means gaining a new house!

 

Day 17:  One morning you hear the all too familiar sound of a gunshot; however, this time it is on your property!  You rush outside and find that the guilty party has run off but a shotgun sized hole is now in you wall.  Upon closer inspection, it was the bathroom wall by your tub which is now a broken mess!  You will need wood from a piece of furniture to repair the wall (until this takes place, delete one piece of wall).  Repairing the tub is a different story.  If you are fortunate enough to have a spare, good for you!  Until you do, you’re now going to have to use the nearby stream to bathe (which means rolling on the event table.  When you arrive at the water source, drag your hygiene bar to 75% as the water is dirty and it is possible to get completely clean.

 

Day 20:  You decide to visit the tavern after your evening patrol for a cold one but arrive to find one of the thieves from the local “gang” harassing the barkeep.  It’s a throw down!   He sees you coming and turns to face you, fists flying.  (Call one of your enemies to the bar and have your protagonist fight them one on one.  Unknown to you, the person you are fighting is the CRIME LORD.  You may not kill them.  It will be the best two out of three fights).

 

If you win, you search your knocked out foe and take 3 apples (you can buy them from the store which is otherwise not available) and find a skill book of your choosing (purchase from the book store, use money cheats as needed).  If you lose, delete 4 items from your personal inventory as the other guy robbed you blind.  You must attend this fight with 4 items in your inventory that are worth taking (i.e. your diploma doesn’t count).

 

Day 22:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab..

 

Day 23:  House Day!  House #4

 With 3 houses under your belt, you’re pretty proud of the progress you’ve made and the service you’ve been able to provide to the community.  You’ve been meeting with a 4th prospective house but they’ve been hesitant to agree to join you in fear of retribution from the other side.  Late one evening, from a comfortable seat on your front porch, you notice an orange glow in the night sky.  Fire!  You grab what men you can muster and head out.  The house you have been pursuing is one fire.  You instruct your crew to set up a water bucket line to put out the flames when a women runs from the blaze screaming that her young child is still inside.  She falls to her knees pleading for your help, tears streaming down her soot-covered cheeks. 

You may either (a) run inside and save the child putting your own life at risk; or (b) continue trying to put out the flames:

 

(a)  You rush inside and hear the child’s sobs.  You call to him as you push you way past a fallen beam.  Roll 1-20.  If you roll 15-20, you escape with the child; if you roll 10-14; you escape but the child dies; if you roll 9 or below, you die in the blaze and an heir must take over.  If you escape (with the child or without) the house will join your cause in gratitude for you risking your life.  If you manage to save the child, the mother offers you the only generator-driven water pump in the challenge allowing you to use up to 4 sprinklers in your garden!  This item cannot be traded for.

 

(b)  Its just not worth the risk.  The woman and her husband run back inside to save their child but never come out.  By dawn, the charred remains of all 3 are discovered and the house somewhat salvagable.  You invest some of your resources to restore it as a future home for one of your children but you can NOT claim it as a house under your authority until that time.

 

Day 25:  It’s time to call a meeting of the troops.  Invite everyone to your house or 2nd private lot and have a meeting on how things are going and how they will proceed.  You will need to provide food, drinks, and whatever entertainment you can muster.  In exchange, the houses you control have joined their resources to offer you a proper tribute!  Roll 1 – 20!

1 – 5:  You get 5 pieces of food from the general store…guess they don’t think much of you!

6 – 12:  You get a single piece of furniture worth up to $400

13 – 16:  You get to go on a bit of a shopping spree in build/buy with a cool $1,000 to buy what you like.

17 – 20:  They have gathered the resources to build a new room on your home!  You’re given $2,000 worth of building supplies and furniture (build/buy) for your new addition!

 

Day 26: A bad snow storm hits and caves in a section of your roof!!  You must either destroy three pieces of furniture (for wood) to repair it or delete a 5x5 section of your roof until you obtain the wood!  Hopefully you have extra furniture in stock!

 

Day 27:  One of your generators has broken down!  You must either have someone with a repair skill of 5 or better in your home or find someone who can do the job.   Otherwise, you are out of luck.

 

Day 28:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab.

 

Day 30: House Day!  House #5

All hell is breaking loose.  The other side is amassing their forces while you amass your own.  The fifth and final “neutral” house is up for grabs!

An intelligence report reveals the next house the local gang is targeting for takeover.  You MUST stop this at all costs.  The thug leader is leaning hard on the family and they are reluctant to trust that you can protect them.   The family, consisting only of a married couple and their infant son.  One evening, your patrols stop by to discover the murdered bodies of the couple.  The wife clutched a scrap of paper that read “please save him”.  Taking the boy secured the house for the bad guys and you need to get him back!

 

Setup:  You have tracked down the baby and are ready for a fight.  There is a strong possibility that your protagonist could die here.  Roll 1-20

14 – 20:  You succeed in retrieving the baby and have no casualties

8 – 13:  You manage to obtain the child but one of your men dies in the fight.

  1 – 7:   It’s a slaughter, two of your men die, one of them being YOU!  I hope you have an heir.

 

Note:  If you fail, you may re-attempt this within 3 days (or when you feel you are ready).   If you succeed in rescuing the baby, you will gain a vacant home that you can place one of your children in.  The house cannot be counted toward your rolls until one of your adult children live there.

 

Day 32:  Just when it seems you’re gaining your footing as an authority in town, everything hits the fan!  You wake one morning to find your enemies have STOLEN all furniture (except your fire pit) from your yard!

 

Day 33:  The town is demanding a regularly staffed jail.  From this point forward, at least one of your adults must live at the Sheriff’s office and attend to the prisoners.  As sheriff, it will be up to you to determine how long someone’s sentence is. 

 

Day 35:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab.

 

Day 36:  House Day!  House #6

Houses 6 – 9 will require a formal raid (since they are enemy homes).  This will mean taking prisoners, converting them to your way of thinking, or taking them out entirely.  On these house days, choose an enemy home and send in a team to subdue them.  Survivors should be taken to the Sheriff’s Office/Safe house for holding.  If you have a son that can take over the house for you, than feel free.  Otherwise, you will have to imprison the adults from that house for at least 24 hours and make a loyalty roll.  If you roll 1-20 and get a 12 or more, the home owners convert to your way of thinking.  Anything less means imprisoning for another 3 days and then attempting another loyalty check.  Basically, you are convincing them of the error of their ways while they are in YOUR custody.  When raiding houses 6 – 9, call 4 enemies to protect them against your attack consisting of 3 Soldiers and 1 Lieutenant.

 

Day 37:  A terrible flu has struck your home and without doctors or hospitals, a simple flu can be life threatening.  Choose one person to be “flu free” and they will be the caretaker of the day.  Everyone else must stay in bed (use testing cheats to keep energy low) and each must be brought two hot meals.  This means cooking a sufficient amount during electric time to provide two meals per person.   Additionally, hygiene must be kept up.  Give a sponge bath (drag the hygiene bar to 100%) to each sick person.  A sponge bath will take ½ bucket of water!  If you need more water, get it after everyone has had their meals and as many baths as you could provide (just in case something bad happens on the trip).  Anyone who does not get a bath and 2 meals that day will die.  If no one dies, a neighbor brings your family a get well gift of a large container of fresh water equivalent to 4 buckets!

 

Day 38:  One of the homes under your protectorate is rumored to be taking the law in their own hands and seeking out criminals.  Concerned for their safety, you step up patrols and it isn’t long until you come across a fight in progress between your allies and enemies.  The allies are beaten handily and your men are forced to risk their lives by jumping in.  Fortunately they are able to force the bandits to retreat, but not before one of your patrols takes a bullet to the thigh.  The group manages to get him back to your office but he’s lost a lot of blood.  Someone needs to remove the bullet from the wound and patch him up which means a chance of catching the virus.  Either:

 

• Jump into action and save him, requiring you to roll a virus check.  If you save him, he will be out of commission for 3 days (unable to go on patrol or be involved in any fights) but you will gain loyalty with your followers to such an extent that they will stay true to you going forward giving you an extra +1 bonus to ALL rolls.

 

• Let him die, it’s not worth the risk.   If you do NOT save him, your followers gain the impression that you do not care.  The very first house you acquired has decided to back out of your deal.  It will take one week to regain their trust and get them back into the fold!  You will not be able to count them in your housing bonus.

 

 

Day 40:  It’s a heat wave!  It’s too damn hot to do anything but sweat today.  Take the family down to the creek for cool drip.  Everyone gets full hygiene and no need to roll an event check!  Don’t forget to pack a lunch!!  Just have a nice, quiet day!

 

Day 41:  One of your non-heir children starts an argument with you insisting that he (or she) be the next in line!  They decide to prove their point by taking two of your men and going after a group of enemies.  Roll 1-20!

16 – 20:  They manage to pull it off forcing you to decide if you want to keep your current heir or pick from among your other children.

09 – 15:  They fail miserably but get out no worse for the wear.

04 – 08:  They are badly beaten and you lose one of your soldiers!  

01 – 03:  The worst happens.  Your men return with the body of your dead child. 

Note 1:  If you only have one child (the heir) skip this day.

Note 2:  Feel free to RP this out.  Some stern punishment for your disobedient child is not out of line!

 

Day 42:  House Day!  Raid House # 7.

 

Day 43:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab.

 

Day 44:  It’s a RAID!  The enemy is getting desperate and they raid the sheriff’s office to free any prisoners and steal whatever they can carry!  Summon 4 enemies to the scene (2 soldiers and 2 lieutenants) and send in as many of your own crew as you can spare to defend.  If you beat them back, one of the assailants is killed removing 1 enemy soldier from the fight on day 60!  If you fail, you lose half of your stored furniture at that location.

 

Day 45:  It’s time again to call your allies together.  Invite a representative of each of your houses to a party or gathering of some sort.  You will have to provide the food and some form of entertainment.  Drinks are always a good thing!  If everyone gets fed and the party seems to go somewhat smoothly, count it a success and add +1 the next time you make a roll!

 

Day 46:  One of the sons from the few houses that still oppose you has sought you out asking to be soldier in your cause.  If you accept, add a new sim to your family.

 

Day 47:  You experience a severe storm and your house is flooded!  All but two of your beds are ruined (delete them) and your couch also takes a beating and must be replaced.  On the upside, you do get 2 free buckets of water today!

 

Day 48:  House Day!  Raid House #8

 

Day 50:  It's trade day! You can trade for up to two items using the trade section under the TABLES tab.

 

Day 51:  It’s an otherwise quiet day at the bar when a teen girl enters with a toddler.  She appears very thin and both look in need of a good meal.  You invite them to your home out of the goodness of your heart only to discover that she is part of a setup to drop your guard.  Four enemies attack you at your own home.  It’s a brutal and bloody battle!  Roll 1-20.

 

15-20:  You beat back the invaders and are left with the crying baby now abandoned by the teen.  You may either raise it as your own or pass it along to one of your houses.

07-14:   It’s a rough fight but you barely beat back the onslaught.  One of your men is gravely wounded and requires immediate medical care.  Either save him and risk viral infection or let him die.  If you save him, add +4 to your next roll.  If you don’t -2 to your next roll!

01-06:   It’s a bloody battle and you lose your life.  An heir will have to step in if you have one.  If not, the challenge is lost!

 

Day 54:  House Day!  Raid House #9

 

Day 55:  Your house is in need of serious repairs to the floor, roof, doors, windows, etc.  To do this, you will need to break down 5 pieces of furniture for wood.  If you fail to do this, remove a wall panel in each room until you have the resources.  Hopefully, by now, you have a healthy stock of furniture for trade!

 

Day 56:  Wild fires have broken out making it impossible for you to get to the lake for water until Day 60!  No fishing, washing dishes, taking baths, etc.

 

Day 57:  It’s your final trading day!  You know what to do by now!

 

Day 58:  Your garden has been ransacked and all plants destroyed!  Hopefully you have enough in storage to make it through until a new crop comes up or you can get to the lake to fish on Day 60!

 

Day 60:  House Day!  Raid House #10! 

NOTE:  If you do not have the other 9 houses by this point, one of your lieutenants will have a heart attack and not be able to participate in the fight!  Also, if you succeeded on day 44, you will be fighting one less soldier.

 

You’ve made it!  Only one obstacle now stands in your way of wiping out crime.  Get ready for a battle royale! 

The last house belongs to your nemesis (the crime lord) and it is well fortified.  Their house must contain 5 enemies (if they don’t have that many adults living there, move some from another house).  Attack when the opportunity presents itself!   Engage  3 soldiers (2 if you succeeded on Day 44), 1 is a lieutenant, and 1 boss.  Remember that soldiers only need to be defeated once to remove them from the fight; lieutenants twice, and bosses must be beaten three times. 

 

The challenge is won only when you have secured ALL 10 houses!